Keighley man charged under Terrorism and Explosive Substances Acts

Wednesday April 26, 2017

A 49 year old man from Keighley has today (Wednesday, April 26) appeared via video link before Westminster Magistrates Court and was formally charged with offences under the Terrorism Act and Explosive Substances Act.

Martin Panton,of Parkwood St, Keighley was arrested by officers from the North East Counter Terrorism Unit in September 2016.

He is charged with three offences under Section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000 - collecting or making a record of information that is of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism and four offences under Section 4 of the Explosive Substances Act 1883 (three offences of possessing an and one offence of making of an explosive substance).

He is due to appear before the Central Criminal Court (The Old Bailey) on May 19.

Officers continue to search a residential address in Keighley in connection with an ongoing enquiry.

Two people from Keighley, a man aged 48 and a woman aged 29, were arrested on suspicion of explosives offences yesterday afternoon and detained for questioning by officers from the North East Counter Terrorism Unit. They remain in custody this morning.

Potentially explosive material was discovered during searches at the address and yesterday evening the Army’s Bomb Disposal Unit attended from Catterick. As a precautionary measure and in the interests of public safety, the immediate area was cordoned off and local residents evacuated while a thorough search was carried out and any potentially dangerous material was safely removed.

Residents have since returned to their homes.

We recognise that local people may have concerns as a result of this activity and would like to reassure them that the arrests are intelligence led and not in response to any immediate threat. Due to the nature of the materials recovered, the North East CTU is leading the investigation. However, this is not being treated as a CT incident at this time.

Residents will be kept as informed as possible and we are grateful for their understanding, patience and support while the searches are concluded.